Please consider a yearly check-up of your beloved instrument to keep it nice and clean and well functioning. Perhaps this summer, while on holidays?!
I recommend that you have your instrument serviced once a year. I have to admit that this won’t save you money. But, it will last longer AND it will play effortless = less stress and more fun!
The average cost of an annual service to a saxophone is about €150-€200. If you left the sax for five years you might only need a major service. But, in the meantime your instrument would have been playing at less than its capacity, so the payoff comes in accepting a less than wonderful performance.
It also gives me the chance to correct problems which may lead to more expensive repairs in the future.
This can range from taking up wear and tear in specific keys. After one year of playing the oil and grease between all rotating parts will dry (depending on the quality of course) and cause noisy keywork.
Some players apply oil to the keys themself without disassembling. This can be harmful because they tend to use too much oil and this will attract dust and cause the keys to wear out faster!
I hope this was helpfull!
Daniel
